


Ghosts

by Chizu5645



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, FicGenExchange, Friendship, Gen, Ghosts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-15
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2019-09-12 16:53:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16876623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chizu5645/pseuds/Chizu5645
Summary: A ghost haunted the NewFont Press.It started when bags of coffee and packed lunches started disappearing from the cafeteria. Then, the printer started printing items all by itself, usually pages completely blacked-out by ink, until a printing error (and someone’s collection of pens stuffed into the feed) made it useless altogether. The lights’ flickering used to be a normal thing – they couldn’t afford better lighting – until there were blackouts almost every week.Eduard couldn’t believe it.(For the GenFicExchange of 2017, gifted to phyripo.)





	Ghosts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [phyripo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/phyripo/gifts).



> I’m so heckin proud of this. I’ve always wanted a chance to practice characterizations with the Easter Europe countries, and I finally got it. I hope you all enjoy it!

A ghost haunted the NewFont Press.

Or, just the building at least.

It started when bags of coffee and packed lunches started disappearing from the cafeteria. Then, the printer started printing items all by itself, usually pages completely blacked-out by ink, until a printing error (and someone’s collection of pens stuffed into the feed) made it useless altogether. The lights’ flickering used to be a normal thing – they couldn’t afford better lighting – until there were blackouts almost every week.

Eduard couldn’t believe it.

Sure, the inconsistent coffee in the cafeteria irritated him, and the way his computer monitor would be covered with colorful post-it notes with looping scribbles overnight was a pain to remove, but he couldn’t quite believe that something supernatural haunted the various cubicles and offices. And, despite the fact that he did a personal blog of his own, he wasn’t a journalist. He was just some random IT guy, there to make sure that the NewFont website didn’t collapse on itself. He didn’t have that mystical passion to investigate the living daylights out of a subject like a few higher-up journalists employed there.

He didn’t want to believe it.

So, perhaps sitting with Natalya Arlovskaya during lunch that particular Friday afternoon was a big mistake on his (belief’s) part.

Normally, he didn’t eat at the cafeteria. His cubicle was a perfectly good enough eating space, or if he wanted to splurge a little he went down to his cousin Tuomi’s place. But, after multiple conversations with peers outside of work concerning his introverted nature (and maybe a bet on whether he can make friends or not), he mustered up the courage to finally bring his homemade lunch there. No, he was not trying to prove a point. He was simply… Trying new venues.

… Even if he didn’t want to.

Nevertheless, the only reason he decided sitting with Natalya was a good idea was that she was sitting by herself in her small, circular table. Eduard himself knew the loneliness of sitting alone at a table. So, after some inner debate (did it  _have_ to be her, isn’t anyone else better), he unpacked his small lunch box then and there.

He didn’t know much about the journalist. All Eduard heard about Natalya was that she wrote about the local crime in the city as one of the few investigative journalists on the Press. The gossip said that she had familial troubles at home, which was why she came early and worked late. A more toxic rumor speculated that she had an intimate relationship with her half-brother, but no one wanted to know for sure. For all he knew, Natalya was just like him: shy, lonesome, and lacking in social grace.

That wasn’t quite the case with Natalya Arlovskaya.

Six minutes into the lunch break, the lights blinked out. A few employees looked up at the ceiling concerned, but otherwise, no one made a fuss.

Unconcerned with the lights, Natalya checked her watch. She then took out a little notepad and a pen, and she wrote something down.

Curious, Eduard asked, “What’s that for?”

She stopped writing, violet eyes flicking up.

“… You mean this?” She asked, waving the notepad a little. She didn’t respond to Eduard’s nod at first, but after a moment she wrote something else down and spoke again. “I’m marking times.”

“Times?”

“When the lights go out.” Natalya checked her watch. “I don’t think I caught your name, mister…?”

“von Bock, ma'am. Eduard von Bock.” Ed took another bite of lunch. “What’s it for?”

“The ghost.”

Eduard almost choked on his food. He suppressed his coughs until he could breathe properly, all while Natalya looked on. Did he hear her right? “I’m sorry,  _what_?”

Natalya narrowed her eyes at him. “If you think I’m crazy, you don’t have to sit by me. I never asked you to.”

“No, no!” He couldn’t lose this! “No, I’m just… Curious, you know? Why you think the lights going out has to do with ghosts.”

Natalya dubiously stared at Eduard for a little longer (he swore he felt chills from those cold, blue eyes) before sighing. “It’s just one ghost, von Bock. They seem to cause electrical problems wherever they go, with enough tangibility to hold onto items. Thus, the missing coffee.”

“… Why would it steal coffee?” Eduard asked, unsure.

“The same reason we drink it: they like the taste.” She closed her notebook and put it away. “I doubt it means any maliciousness, or else it would’ve killed someone already.”

… What?

“That… That sounds great,” Eduard coughed awkwardly. Maybe it wasn’t too late to switch seats. “What are you planning to do about it.”

Natalya nodded. “I plan to catch the ghost.”

… Wait. “ _Catch_?” Eduard repeated, eyes wide. She wasn’t serious, was she? How could she catch something that didn’t exist?

“Of course. Tonight, perhaps.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t like working with a faulty computer and without coffee.”

The lights soon blinked on.

“If you’d like, you could join me,” Natalya offered. “I wouldn’t mind the help.”

* * *

One small problem Eduard had was the fact he worked a little  _too_ hard. As in, he worked longer than he was supposed to. A combination of tunes, pressing deadlines, and a lack of need to go home usually made him work for hours on end after lunch. Maybe the sticker on top of the clock on his desktop was also at fault (it wasn’t  _his_ fault he liked to watch the time until lunch), but that wasn’t the case right now.

He only thought about leaving when the automatic lights turned off.

Startled from his work, he checked the time on his phone. “Five forty?” He whispered to himself. Forty minutes of unpaid work. For the second time this week, he cursed himself for not having any friends; if he had some, he would’ve had some incentive to get out of work or have someone to remind him to go home. Sighing, he saved his work on the computer and closed it down.

He walked with his bag down semi-dark hallways. It wasn’t too dark since the building had lots of windows for evening sunlight to stream in. Eduard took a flight downstairs and almost entered the lobby–

– just to see an eery light mutely shining from a room.

Now that got Eduard’s curiosity piqued. This section of the building, opposite of the entrances, was one of the darkest places of the office with no artificial light. And even if the overhead lights were on, the spooky blue light would’ve probably overshone everything else. Eduard’s conversation with Natalya about ghosts came to his mind, but he shook it away. No, it couldn’t be a ghost.

… Or could it?

In any case, it could’ve been something else. Like a burglar. No doubt there was someone out there who wanted to infiltrate the building to find more inside scoops. If anyone was there, he could just call emergency services. It was his duty, as an employee of NewFont Press, to protect the building where he worked.

With that excuse bolstering his courage, he approached the room.

He was about to peek into the room when an unholy screech made him jump.

“ _Let me GO, witch!_ ” An unfamiliar voice shrieked. “ _You cannot hold me forever!_ ”

“I’m inclined to disagree,” a surprisingly familiar voice replied in a cool monotone. “I will keep you captive for as long as it takes–”

“… What in the  _world_?”

Eduard clamped his hands over his mouth just as he said the words. It was too late, however; both persons in the room heard him.

If Eduard could remember correctly, this room held one of the many copying machines in the office building. However, the room was not being used for its intended purpose; instead, while the copying machine, a table, and two chairs were pushed to the side, Natalya Arlovskaya was sitting cross-legged in front of a large blue circle, the source of light Eduard had previously seen. Inside the circle was a young man furiously banging on invisible walls and three cans of coffee grounds, one in which was already spilling its contents onto the ground. Lit candles surrounded the circle, but their light couldn’t compete with the circle, which seemed to be outlined with chalk.

But now that Eduard’s presence had been announced, both Natalya and the man had stopped their argument to stare at Eduard.

Natalya’s eyebrows rose. “Ah, how convenient.”

The man started banging on the invisible walls again. “ _Oh stranger, I implore you to help me! This madwoman has trapped me against my will with her black arts and I_ beg  _of you, free me–_ ”

“Hush,” Natalya snapped, and the man went silent. She then turned to Eduard. “von Bock. I’m glad you could join us.”

“What’s going on?” He asked, his voice steadily rising in pitch. That other man in the circle, that couldn’t be–

“I caught our ghost,” Natalya said as if it was the most normal thing ever. “Care to join?”

The supposed ghost huffed. “ _Don’t join_ her  _side. I’m the victim here, she caught me!_ ”

Eduard couldn’t speak.

“I can very easily exorcise you, you know.” Natalya turned to face the ghost, her expression cross. “But if you can cooperate, we can make a deal. Is that clear?”

The ghost seemed to hesitate at the word “exorcise”, but then he turned away with a defiant sniff.  " _Oh, please. As if you could help me._ “

Natalya grit her teeth.“I can very well try.”

Eduard shook his head. This was all too much to handle. “Wait, wait, wait. Could everyone just  _stop_  for a moment?” He pleaded, putting his hands up. Whether it was in surrender or in command, even Eduard himself couldn’t tell. “Please?”

The ghost rolled his eyes. “ _Ah, great. I’m trapped with Miss Witch and Mister Incompetent. Fabulous. I swear I can’t go anywhere without a bit of peace and quiet._ ”

The nickname made Eduard sputter. “Wh-Why, you–!”

Natalya gripped onto the hem of her shirt. Even her patience was running thin. “Ghost, perhaps you should start speaking about your reason here to make your exit from the world  _less_ painful.”

“ _Less painful, eh?_ ” The ghost snorted. “ _Sure, anything’s better than having a building full of idiots sitting on top of me._ ”

“Sitting…?” Eduard mumbled, thinking. He then gasped in realization. “Wait… Are we on your grave?”

“ _Have been for twenty-seven whole years,_ ” the ghost snarked. “ _And it kinda hurts, thank you for asking._ ”

Twenty-seven years… Eduard was surprised that the building was that old. But had they really erroneously erected a building on top of a grave? Did they even know?

“We can’t remove a building for you alone,” Natalya said. “I’m sorry if it is the only way to put your soul to rest.”

“ _Well that’s just dandy. Then I guess I’ll keep stealing your coffee._ ” The ghost angrily picked up the spilling can of coffee grounds, plopped himself down away from Eduard and Natalya, and scooped coffee grounds into his mouth. The act both intrigued Eduard and disgusted him.

“So… What are we going to do with him?” Eduard whispered, kneeling down. He kept watching the ghost eat the coffee beans in mortified fascination.

“I might as well exorcise him,” Natalya whispered back. “He will keep on causing issues with the Press until our bosses decide to do something. And that,” her voice dropped lower in disdain, “will not happen soon.”

“But isn’t that the equivalent of killing him?”

Natalya looked up at Eduard, looking impressed. “Look at you, being concerned for a ghost you denied hours ago.”

Eduard gulped. Well, she  _was_  right. He really had no reason to feel sorry for a ghost that he didn’t believe in before all this drama. But there had to be some way to ease the ghost’s pain if only for the exorcism…

“Do you have any more coffee cans?”

Natalya made a face. “… There should be more upstairs, why?”

Eduard shrugged. “Just a thought.”

* * *

And just like that, the ghost and six coffee cans (not including the opened one) vanished with a poof.

Natalya clapped her hands to get rid of the chalk dust on them. “Exorcising a ghost is one thing, exorcising one with coffee is another…” She sighed, a half smile on her face. “But I’d say that that was a success.”

Eduard massaged his arms. Carrying those cans had been a chore. “ _Please_ tell me there aren’t any more ghosts in this building.”

“There shouldn’t be.” Natalya tapped the floor with her boot. “… Unless we have more graves under here.”

“I’d rather move buildings at that point.”

“Likewise.”

There was a moment of silence. Eduard fiddled with the straps of his bag. Natalya stood with her arms crossed.

“… So.” Eduard sucked in a breath. “Now that that’s over.”

Natalya raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you have somewhere to go, von Bock?”

“Not necessarily.” Eduard shrugged. “I was actually thinking drinks.”

Natalya blinked in surprise. “Excuse me?”

Eduard exhaled a short laugh. That sounded awkward, now that he said it. “I mean, after all this, we could be considered friends now, don’t you think? I know a place.”

“Do you now.” Despite the blunt, sarcastic statement, Natalya had a smile on her face. “I wouldn’t mind. A drink would help me forget I had to deal with a bratty ghost.”

“He was kind of bratty, wasn’t he?” Eduard mused, mostly to himself.

After Natalya picked up her book bag (it hid below the table and held the necessary items to catch the ghost, along with her laptop), the two headed out. It was the beginning of a friendship, one that neither had expected, but it was friendship nonetheless.

(And it only took a bet and a ghost to meet.)


End file.
